386 schools get Plus Two courses

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JULY 26. As many as 386 schools would get Plus Two courses this year as per the fresh list released by the Government here on Wednesday on the basis of an order by the Kerala High Court.

Sixty schools, which figured in the earlier list, have been dropped for want of the required infrastructure. At the same time, 98 schools which were not in the original list, have been sanctioned the courses this time.

The original list, which was quashed by the High Court, had 348 schools. They included 148 Government schools and 200 aided schools. Of these, 22 Government schools and 38 aided schools were found to lack infrastructure on inspection by district-level committees set up for the purpose. In their place, 35 Government schools and 63 aided schools were given sanction, taking the total to 161 and 225 respectively.

An official spokesman said that applications for admissions in the newly sanctioned schools would be received up to July 29. Classes would begin on August 1.

Classes have already begun in schools where the Plus Two programme was sanctioned in previous years.

The High Court had struck down the list drawn up by the Government this year noting that the exercise of choosing schools had been done in an arbitrary manner. The Government had chosen the school from a large number of eligible applicants through a political process rather than an administrative process. A sub- committee of the LDF, instead of an official machinery of the Government, drew up the list.

The court directed that the schools be selected on the basis of an entire set of norms which had been specified by the Government itself earlier. A committee consisting of the District Panchayat president, Collector and the Deputy Director of Education should inspect the infrastructure available with the applicants and recommend them. The Government drew up the present list from among those recommended by the district-level committees.

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Section  : Southern States
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